Spy flicks generally feature suave, debonair action heroes dodging death, seducing seductresses and meddling with megalomaniacs. And there is one such agent in the espionage spoof Spy. But he’s killed off quickly and replaced by someone who, while technically an agent, is hardly a spy in the familiar Hollywood sense of that word: CIA basement dweller Melissa McCarthy.
Just as she’s done in her previous R-rated romps Bridesmaids and The Heat, McCarthy unleashes her signature blend of profanity, obscenity and vulgarity in Spy. It’s a formula that’s apparently still connecting with her fans, as Spy raked in an estimated $30 million in its weekend debut, good enough for the top spot in this week’s box office sweepstakes.
Meanwhile, aftershocks from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s disaster epic San Andreas continued to rumble through multiplexes. San Andreas swallowed up another $26.4 million, a 52% drop from its $54.5 million debut last weekend.
Insidious 3 momentarily looked as if it might haunt the chart’s top spot after strong Friday returns for the horror sequel. But the movie’s opening-day pace wasn’t sustainable, and the third Insidious entry clocked in, perhaps appropriately, at No. 3.
The Top 5’s other wide-release newcomer, Entourage, failed to attract many hangers-on. The movie, based on HBO’s series of the same name that aired from 2004 to 2011, netted an estimated $10.4 million.
Elsewhere on the box office chart, the biopic Love & Mercy, which focuses on Beach Boy founder Brian Wilson’s troubled life, made an estimated $2.2 million with a smaller release to only 483 theaters.
Next week sees the return of Michael Crichton’s genetically engineered dinosaurs in Jurassic World, a big-budget actioner some industry experts are suggesting is the last, best hope to revive the already flagging 2015 summer box office.
Recent Comments